- I knew you would call from Esbjerg at some point, and I would be ready, says Hanne Camåe on the other end of the phone.
She quickly agrees to make an interview appointment about her husband's and her own work, which has given the Danish offshore industry a voice.
Ole Camåe passed away at the age of 76 on November 21, 2022, and Hanne Camåe subsequently needed to keep it to herself and almost keep her husband's death a secret in the midst of grief.
In the early 1980s, her husband Ole Camåe created Danish Offshore Industry - DOI, which with its yearbook and supplier index gave the Danish oil and gas industry an English-language business card to present the Danish industry at trade fairs abroad and thus expand its business area.
In 2020, Ole Camåe sold DOI to DK Medier, which publishes Claus G. Theilgaard today continues to run the English-language magazine together with DOI.dk. Meanwhile, renewables are also part of the field, and that was entirely in the spirit of the founder.
- Ole had said it was a good idea to take it forward, says Hanne Camåe, who also remembers the time after the sale of DOI for a reason.
- It wasn't long after that, Ole was diagnosed with prostate cancer, explains Hanne Camåe about a grueling and difficult cancer course that ended up costing her husband his life.
The beginning
But Hanne Camåe also clearly remembers how her husband created Danish Offshore Industry.
- Varde Bank had done something about the offshore industry at the time, but my Ole said he could do it better, she remembers.
And this is where Ole Camåe's personality comes into play, because he was both committed, dedicated and a very social person.
- The first years when the yearbook came out, we went on holiday either on Fanø or in Blåvand for three weeks every summer holiday with our two daughters. We didn't see Ole much, because he was away from early morning until evening. He visited all the companies and got to know everyone in the industry, she says of a legwork that bore fruit in several ways.
- Ole got to know the apprentices who ended up as directors, laughs Hanne Camåe about her husband's ability to create relationships.
That's how DOI ended up being the focal point for the offshore industry. For Ole and Hanne Camåe, they also practically ran a travel agency for the important trade fairs for the industry.
- We arranged the trips and hotels for the trade fairs in Aberdeen, Stavanger and Houston. Then we arranged several joint dinners, where everyone participated a couple of times on each trade fair trip, says Hanne Camåe.
There were even a few trips to both Singapore and Abu Dhabi. However, the tour operator part was not about making money.
- It really helped to get to know each other, and it was a big win for the yearbook. The first years we left on Friday or Saturday and were gone for eight days, so there was time before the opening of the fair. Then some companies started to save money, and many could only go for three days, says Hanne Camåe.
She also noticed how new friendships were formed across the companies on the fair trips.
Before the saving drive set in, there were completely different times.
- In Aberdeen we arranged both visits to whisky distilleries and golf trips, because it is hard to stand at a fair stand for a whole day. So there was also a need for a day off. Ole was the vanguard at the fairs all day and the Danish stand, where he had 1,000 yearbooks sent in advance, and I was the rearguard, she says.
The entrepreneurial spirit
Overall, Ole Camåe was an entrepreneur who understood the spirit of the times and how to turn ideas into a business. This was the case even though Ole and Hanne Camåe already ran a publishing house, which she runs alone today.
- Ole sold smoking cessation treatments before anyone else, it was a Norwegian concept. Then we took out advertisements in all the weekly magazines, says Hanne Camåe.
It turned out to be a huge success.
- We received 30,000 letters with inquiries about smoking cessation. "What the hell are we going to do," we said to each other, she says.
But the couple was resourceful and bought a letter opening machine for the many letters. But there was a lot more work involved.
- Ole sat and took phone calls from morning to night about quitting smoking. We worked almost around the clock. I don't even know when we slept, we did so much, says Hanne Camåe, who has retained both spark, enthusiasm and drive a year after her husband's death.
It was also a spark that Ole Camåe himself maintained throughout his cancer journey, where he had to go to the hospital after a fall at home.
- When the Falck rescuers arrived, Ole said to one of them: You're from Jutland, where are you from? It turned out he came from Gråsten, and his brother worked at the printing house where we get our books printed, says Hanne Camåe about her husband's way of dealing with people.
But Hanne Camåe has a message for all the men she meets today.
- I say to all men, get tested for prostate cancer now when you turn 60. And don't let the doctor send you home without being sent on to have that blood test taken, says Hanne Camåe with a raised index finger, who like her husband can take action.
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